Part I: Editor’s Introduction to monograph on the she-philosopher

HIS previously unpublished paper (one of three qualifying papers for my C.Phil. examination) records my earliest research and thinking about the evolving ethos of the “she-philosopher.” Here, I first grappled with some of the issues that still concern me today.

The exam paper attempted a rhetorical analysis of early-modern popular science directed at women, beginning with John Wilkins’ Mathematicall Magick in 1648. From here I moved on to summary discussion of Robert Boyle, Margaret Cavendish, the Athenian Society, Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle’s Entretiens sur la Pluralité des Mondes as translated by Aphra Behn in 1688, John Harris, early 18th-century science periodicals, and Francesco Algarotti’s two-volume Il Newtonianismo per le Dame, as translated by Elizabeth Carter in 1739.

While some of the interpretations offered in the paper have proven inadequate (especially concerning the nature of women’s exclusion from scientific circles), there is still some useful data gathered here, which I continue to mull over (e.g., see the IN BRIEF topic on Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle’s Entretiens sur la Pluralité des Mondes).

NOTE: The digital edition of Bazeley’s text (in Part II) has not yet been updated. It retains the original format and styling of the first issue of the HTML transcript in 2004. To learn more about 2012 changes to e-publication formats, visit She-philosopher.com’s “A Note on Site Design” page.

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